Seven Minutes
by mcmachine
Summary: April and Arizona both end up at the same party hosted by Amelia with different expectations of how the night was supposed to go. In college, there's no such thing as a tame party.
1. Chapter 1

Music pounded and shook the walls of the apartment, some top 40 playlist playing far too loud yet to be expected upon any given Saturday night. Parties were a natural part of college, whether it was in the basement of a frat house or a slightly more mild location like a random junior's apartment. No one really cared where it was as long as there was access to alcohol involved. That was always the priority for college students, hardworking or not.

"Come on, April, take a shot!" Amelia, the hostess of tonight's event, insisted.

"I have to wake up early tomorrow." For church, of course, even if she wouldn't say that. "I'm good." She rejected.

"Buzzkill!" The brunette shouted, taking the bottle of tequila with her as she went to find someone else to seduce into her antics.

The redhead sunk back into the chair, holding onto her plastic cup a little tighter than before. Water was the only thing in it but she thought holding onto it might keep it from being so obvious. When Amelia had mentioned she was having people over, April had accepted the invitation under the guise that it was a small group. Her friend had mentioned that their study group would be there, and she thought that it wasn't going to be much larger than that. But the apartment was just about as crowded as could be. She had underestimated just how much of a socialite the other woman was.

A few faces around the room she was capable of recognizing, from her pre-med and biology classes. She knew Lexie – a complete brainiac with an eidetic memory and Mark, the senior boy that she always hung around who seemed nowhere near smart enough for her on the surface. His best friend Derek, too, who happened to be Amelia's older brother who was supplying the alcohol given he was a little bit older than the rest of us.

Arizona Robbins had shown up, of course. She was the face of our particular study group. She was a senior majoring in biology and also on the pre-med course, though apparently, she was taking a gap year between finishing her undergraduate degree and attending medical school.

Legal at twenty-two, Arizona had no qualms about hammering down a mixed drink or two or dancing with some of the other girls at the party. Everyone knew that she was as gay as could be – she was on the executive board for the pride club.

"We need to do something to get this party started!" Amelia announced.

"I've got an idea," Mark hollered. "Spin the bottle – seven minutes in Heaven style!"

In a typical youthful and horny fashion, cheers of agreement sounded loudly through the room. Most people in there were at least tipsy – April was one of the few exceptions, but sticking out was something that stressed her out, even if she wasn't a fan of games like these. It was better to go along and hope to God that the bottle wouldn't end up landing on her. People would be too drunk to notice, hopefully.

"There are three closets in here," Amelia smirked as she glanced around the group. "Things can definitely get a little raunchy. No one be a buzzkill." She sent a look at April.

An empty beer bottle was set down among the large group of people and spun around with a flicker. Everyone except for April sat forward with interest to watch as it spun quickly and slowed down, eventually settling on one person. Cristina Yang. She sat back on her heels with a haughty smirk and it was spun again, eventually landing on one of the younger males in the room, George O'Malley. She groaned out with frustration and the mocking quickly began as they both dragged their feet to the closet.

"Again, again!" The crowd chanted. Amelia was happy to comply, sending the bottle spinning around the group of people. A few seconds passed before it landed on April, and she froze.

"Oh no…" she mumbled under her breath, wetting her lips. She already hated this.

The bottle was spun once more and her hands curled into tiny fists, short nails digging crescent moons into the palms of her hands as she waited anxiously. After what seemed like an impossibly long spin, it finally began to slow down before landing on a person.

Once the glass stilled, April looked up to see who it had landed on. Of course, it was someone that she knew. Arizona Robbins. They had studied together a few times.

All of the guys in the group hollered out loud once they realized that it was two girls going into the closet together. Arizona was out and proud, of course, but April wasn't. April knew that she liked girls, that she was probably bisexual even if she didn't have a lot of experience with any gender. But she'd always stayed deep in the closet, scared of how her family would react if she tried to step out.

"C'mon, red." Arizona quipped, a big smile on the blonde's full lips.

Lips pressed together in a tight line to try and keep herself from pouting, April stood up and followed the slightly older girl into the closet in Amelia's bedroom. The light was pulled on and both of them had to be careful of their step for shoes and other knick-knacks that littered the floor, pushing clothes aside to try and make it slightly more comfortable.

"Have you ever kissed a girl before?" Arizona asked with a smirk.

"I, uh," April tried to speak, her mouth suddenly too dry. She swallowed thickly before giving it another attempt. "No, I haven't. I haven't really kissed anyone before," she admitted honestly.

"Seriously?" The blonde questioned, her eyebrows shooting up into arches.

Cheeks flooding with a color that nearly matched the hair on top of her head, April nodded.

"I would have never guessed. Why not? You're hot. It's not like there is a shortage of guys, or girls, who would be willing to get it on with you." Arizona rambled on confidently, resting her hands on her hips despite it being a little crowded for the room in the closet. "I mean, seriously. There's no reason for you not to be having some fun."

April's gaze dropped for a moment and her bottom lip caught between her teeth, just barely giving a shake of her head. There was something intimidating about being in here alone with Arizona – she was older and beautiful, a lot out of her league.

"No need to be so shy." This time, Arizona's smile was gentle. "It's just me and you. We're friends."

"Yeah," April wet her lips, taking a deep breath and trying to force a smile across her lips. "Sorry, I'm just not used to stuff like this. When Amelia invited me to the party, I didn't realize that it was a big party. I thought that it was going to be just a small group of people," she explained and gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm not surprised, that was probably the only way that she could get you to come." She replied.

"Mmhm," she nodded. "This isn't really my scene."

The redhead fell quiet shortly after her words, her arms wrapping timidly in front of her ribcage and trying to shrink herself. Both of them were about the same size and height, the blonde perhaps just standing a bit taller than the other merely from the confidence that she had straightened up her spine. That managed to make a big enough difference, especially when the two of them were confined together in such a small space. It had barely been a minute and yet it already felt impossibly long for her. Arizona, on the other hand, didn't mind. She always appreciated time with a beautiful woman.

"Are you interested in kissing a girl?" Arizona asked to break the silence, her eyebrows quirking up as she examined the other's face carefully. She could see something there, even if she couldn't quite name it.

"I–" There was the stuttering again. "I don't know, I mean, I uh…" Her voice trailed off to silence.

"You did always give me that bi or demi vibe," the blonde remarked, blue eyes sweeping over the other's forms and letting her thumbs hook into the belt loops of her jeans. "Sweet, quiet, demure. Just waiting for the right person to swoop in and rock your world completely."

As oblivious as April could be to flirting and pickups, this particular instance was impossible to miss. Arizona's pupils were huge in the dark room, looking at much more than just her face. The heat rose in her cheeks again.

"I don't really know what I am," April finally admitted, licking her lips subconsciously. "I think that I'm bi but I don't really have the experience to know either way." She clarified.

"Then how about I give you a little experience and help you figure it out?" As if it was a selfless act.

Even if it was a natural, flirtatious flow of conversion, April still found herself stunned by the suggestion. She wasn't completely oblivious, despite what people might have thought about her. She knew what people her age typically did in situations like this one, making out and groping to take advantage of the seven minutes. Hazel eyes stared at the woman across from her for a long moment, as if she was expecting her to suddenly take the words back with an obnoxious laugh.

"Seriously?" April finally questioned, staring at her.

"Yeah. I mean, why not? We're already in here. You may a well get something out of this experience. No sense in wasting seven perfectly good minutes with a hot girl." Whether Arizona was talking about herself or April, well, it was hard to determine. Both, probably.

"Oh… okay." The redhead finally managed to get a syllable past her lips after a few long seconds, blinking quickly a few times as she assessed the situation one more time.

"Okay?" Arizona asked once more for confirmation, thin eyebrows perking up.

"Okay," April repeated the syllable with just a little more confidence than before.

The blonde stepped forward toward the younger woman, her hands finding the small curve of her hips and pulling her in just a little closer. Both heads turned to the side and red stained lips met painted pink ones for the first time.

Slow and hesitant at first, April paused for a moment before attempting to return the kiss, trying to act as natural as possible about it. She'd never had a real kiss before – not one like this, close together and intimate, without the worry of anyone else in the world seeing the two of them. Arizona's lips were soft and warm, even if she could faintly taste the alcohol on her lips alongside something sweet. She couldn't quite name the latter of the taste. Even if she didn't know exactly what it was, she liked it.

Arizona had more fervor to put into the kiss, pulling her hips to flush against her own. April didn't taste like alcohol or anything else that had been passed around the party. There was a pure quality to her, sweet and natural, something that most of the other girls on campus didn't seem to have. She found herself incredibly attracted to it.

Lips eventually separated once more for the sole purpose of putting oxygen inside of their lungs again. But the separation only lasted for a brief moment. Blue eyes met hazel again and with a slight nod of confirmation, their lips met again. This time, there wasn't as much hesitation coming from April, one hand resting on Arizona's cheek as they kissed. She could feel her confidence growing just a smidgen from being with her.

Finally, they parted once again, though not a lot of distance was put between the two of them. April's hand fell from Arizona's cheek to her shoulders, pausing as she tried to catch her breath again. Arizona's hands remained suited on the other woman's hips.

"So, how was your first real kiss with a girl?" Arizona asked with a large smirk.

Still momentarily breathless, all April could manage to do was nod her head.

"That good, huh?" Laughter slipped through the blonde's lips though a joyful look remained seated on her lips, feeling thoroughly satisfied with herself. She'd known and admired April for quite a few weeks now. She had barely noticed the redhead when they first sat down in the same section of anatomy together given how meek and quiet she was, but once they had ended up in the same study group together, she had realized there was a bright intelligence inside of that she didn't always let show.

And now that she had kissed her properly, felt the softness of her curves underneath her own hands, it was safe to say that she happened to be just a little bit enamored by all of the quiet, subtle charms that the red-haired woman had to offer.

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty good." April finally managed to speak up, a smile of her own just barely beginning to flirt across the soft curve of her lips.

"Well, thank you very much." Arizona grinned right back at her.

"How much time do we have left?" The redhead asked, realizing that she had left her phone out in the room with everyone else. She was sure that once the two of them left, there was going to be plenty of commentaries made by Amelia, Mark, and everyone else who decided it would be fun to prey on her.

"Just another minute or two." She answered. "Is there anything else you want to do?"

Staring at Arizona for a minute longer, April leaned forward to place her lips on top of the other woman's one more time. She was still just as soft as before, the same sweet flavor mixed with something alcoholic. Maybe she hadn't been drinking like everyone else at the party, but this was just enough to make her feel like she was indeed just a little bit intoxicated.

Suddenly, the closet doors flew open with two other women standing on the other side. Amelia was there, of course, along with an older, dark-haired woman that April didn't recognize. Amelia looked incredibly satisfied with what she saw.

"Hah! I knew Kepner was into chicks." The young Shepherd said with a grin.

"She most definitely is," Callie confirmed, dark brown eyes sweeping over both April and Arizona in approval. "I gotta hand it to you, I didn't see that one coming." She laughed.

"Well, I'm glad to see you finally had some fun." Amelia eyed April with amusement.

"Oh yes, we most certainly did." Arizona smiled, slinging her arm around April's waist.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite the upcoming exam in anatomy, April was having a difficult time focusing on her neatly written notes.

She was an excellent study. Everyone in the particular study group was, and they were doubly lucky that the class was not graded on a curve – even if for some, that did make it more challenging. The grade that they earned was the grade that they got at the end of the day. That allowed for study groups to be less of a cutthroat environment and more of a supportive one. Besides, there was plenty of research to back up the idea that if you were able to teach the content to another person, then the chances of remembering it for a test were much higher.

Parties were a common enough occurrence in college. Even though April had not gone too many, she was quickly realizing that wasn't normal. People always seemed to go a little wild, apparently, but they didn't talk about it quite as much as she expected. When she showed up at study group the next week, she thought she would be harassed nonstop about it.

Instead, when she should have been listening and taking notes, as well as sharing her own, she found herself staring at one particular Arizona Robbins the entire time.

Arizona had most of her hair pulled back in a neat little braid resting on the base of her neck, but a bit of the front was left out and worn in a cute girl that framed the soft curves of her face. It moved as she looked around the group or leaned over her notes, and April found herself mesmerized by even the small movements of the piece of hair. She was trying to be obvious about it, but she swore that the blonde had caught her gaze a few times and could feel her cheeks burning.

"April, what do you think?"

The redhead jerked out of her thoughts when Jackson spoke, surprised that anyone had addressed her directly. She blinked a few times, glancing down at her notes before the room full of people staring at her.

"I, uh, what– think about what?" She stuttered out, looking anywhere other than at a set of eyes staring at her. Normally she was on top of her game. She was one of the smartest in her group because she always worked hard and dedicate herself. She didn't have nearly the same social life as the rest of them.

"I was asking about the process of–" Before he could finish speaking, Amelia cut him off.

"Kepner, stop staring at Arizona's tits and pay attention." Amelia blurted out crassly.

Her jaw fell slack at her sudden words as the group of people around burst out into laughter. Flickering hazel hues between Amelia and Arizona for a brief moment, she could see the blonde looked both amused and a little embarrassed. She had been staring at her, absolutely. But she hadn't been so classless enough to blatantly stare at her chest – she wasn't like that, not at all.

"I–I wasn't staring at her breasts. I wasn't staring at her at all, I was just zoned out, that's all." April quickly tried to justify with a shake of her head, swallowing thickly and trying to control the blush of her cheeks.

"Yeah, 'Melia, that's usually you paying all the attention to my boobs." Arizona grinned, sympathetically taking some of the attention off of the younger woman. "Let's get back to work."

Although there were cocky smirks on the group of people around them, the managed to get back to work with studying. There always seemed to be some kind of big test hovering around the corner which meant it was a little easier than most of the time to get focused on the conversation and not have to worry about what was on everyone else's mind. There was so much information to be retained, focusing too much on gossip and silly comments was a little tedious and even a waste of space inside of their head. April liked to hold onto that idea and think that no one would really focus on her too much because of that alone.

Yet despite those exact thoughts, a few times when she glanced up from the notes and worksheets that she had placed out in front of her, she caught the blonde staring at her.

Arizona was equally guilty of catching herself looking at the younger redhead, though she was a little more subtle, looking around the entire group to maintain a cover for herself. She was much more talkative and bubbly among the lot of them, making it easy to disguise a few gazes as nothing more than typical and friendly. She was very good at maintaining a positive, normal exterior.

They were more alike than either of them realized. Both of them were thinking of the same tipsy night that they had stuck in a closet together, how nice it had been to kiss one another. Even for April, it was more than the infatuation that came with a first. She was sure of that.

Plenty of women had come and gone through Arizona's life in one way or another, physically or emotionally, even if the latter seemed to be less common. She had moved around so much in her life that college was the most permanent residence she had in a long, long time. A part of her was still adjusting to the stationary sense of all of it, but a few of her habits hadn't quite died down. For the most part, though, it still seemed to blend into the rest of the college scene fairly well.

"I'm burnt out and I need a drink." Amelia finally announced forty-five minutes later, tossing down her pen at the open textbook and leaning back. "Who's with me?" She questioned.

"Me!" "Me." "Yeah, me too."

Voices chorused around the room in quick agreement, worn from the material. April didn't say a word, noticing that Arizona didn't, either. Quick eye contact was made between the two women for a brief moment and the redhead looked away a little too quickly, capping her pen and staring intently down on it, not wanting any more attention on herself.

"What about you, Zona? Are you coming?" Amelia asked, glancing over at the blonde.

"Nah, not tonight," she shook her head as she answered. "I'll stay back and clean up this room, 'cause you guys made a complete mess." The study group room they had reserved in the library certainly was nowhere as neat as they had found it.

People began to pack up their items in their bag, and April dragged her feet a little more than usual. Normally, she was pretty quick to get away to avoid all of the conversations that followed. She didn't mind hanging around the group quietly, she liked having some company around her and listening to the conversation, even if she didn't always take place in it. She just liked being a part of the group even if she was far from the center of attention in it. That was best left to Amelia or Arizona, or literally anyone else.

Arizona watched her as she packed up her items, waiting until Amelia and most of the others had left the room before she decided to speak up and grab the other's attention.

"Hey, do you mind helping me clean up a little more?" Arizona asked.

"Oh– me?" April questioned, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, you." The blonde smiled, flicking the loose curls of hair back behind hear confidently.

"Yeah, sure." She wet her lips and forced a nod of her head, a smile flitting across her lips for just a brief moment as she began to clean up some of the snack trash and other items that had littered across the room throughout the time that they had been there.

April was dying to say something to the other woman, but she didn't have a clue where to even begin with her. Did she like her? Absolutely. That was something she knew. But she had never dated anyone before, man or woman, and didn't know how to get started on that. She was sure that the interest displayed was nonexistent from the other. Arizona was older and cool, she could have had anyone that she wanted. There was no reason for her to go off with someone like April, as far as the redhead could tell.

Yet despite that it seemed entirely likely on all surface levels and without any further examination into it, Arizona absolutely was interested in the younger woman. She liked the softness that was to be found. It was different than most of the girls around her. So many girls just seemed vapid and haughty. It might have been fun for a one night stand or even a short-term fling, but it wasn't anything that she had ever wanted to take seriously. April was someone serious, even if she was younger. She carried a certain maturity there that was obvious with how quiet she usually was in the group settings. She didn't demand attention, yet that lack of calling for it was the exact thing that pulled it to her.

"You were quieter than usual today," Arizona remarked as she erased the writing left on the whiteboard, a little smile still on her lips even though she wasn't looking directly at her.

"I uh, I guess I just didn't have a lot to contribute," April answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You always have something to contribute." The blonde disagreed, turning around as she set down the eraser.

She shook her head. "That's not true."

"Yes, yes it is." The disagreement came quickly. "You're one of the smartest people in this group, April, if not the smartest. You probably would be if you had an eidetic memory like Lexie. There's no point in you not speaking up. Everyone should know that." Her eyebrows perked upward with her statement.

"I'm not… that's not true." April shook her head quickly. "I'm no different than anyone else here. We're all in the same school and in the same class, so…"

"But you work harder than the rest of us. Look at your notes compared to everyone else. There's a reason that yours are the ones who get passed around like nothing else." Arizona pointed out. It was true, even if she didn't like to recognize it for herself.

Shoulders lift and fell in a shrug as she tried to brush it off, not wanting to have too much attention on herself. She was proud of how she did in school and that she had pushed herself this far, but it was much harder to vocalize that. Arizona, on the other hand, tended to have the opposite experience. With all of the schools that she had been to over the years, and growing up gay, she had proved herself to people over and over again, nearly nonstop.

"You're just being nice," April murmured, chewing at her lower lip.

"Well, yes, I am," Arizona laughed, the sound bubbling out easily. "But, you make it very easy to be nice to you. It might be easier if you spoke up more." She took a few steps toward April as she spoke, thumbs hooked around her belt loops.

"Sometimes it's easier to be quiet," she shrugged. "I'm comfortable being quiet."

"Haven't you ever heard that you're supposed to live life outside of your comfort zone? Be fearless. That's where all the magic happens, and whatever dozen other cliches about it are out there." The blonde had an easy smile resting across her lips with every word that came out of her mouth, acting as if none of it was a big deal to her. Even so, she was serious about her words.

"Yeah, I guess I've heard that." She shook her head with the reply.

"Well, you should try it sometime," Arizona suggested. "Wasn't that kiss a little outside of it?"

She blushed before nodding her head. "Yeah, I guess it kind of was."

"And didn't you enjoy it?" She continued.

"Yeah," April nodded. "Yeah, I did."

The blonde took a step toward the redhead. She had enough confidence that her blue eyes didn't waver from looking at the other straight on. It was enough that it managed to intimidate April just a bit, even if she did try to maintain the gaze. It was hard though, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks and trying desperately to ignore it so she didn't make it any worse than it already was. Yet the more that Arizona looked at her dead on, the redder that she seemed to get. Despite that, she didn't want the other woman to look away from her.

Though the temptation was surely there, Arizona didn't kiss her just yet. She got close enough that it was easy to, that she could smell the sweetness of some kind of fruity shampoo in her hair. She could remember just how soft April's lips were. But she maintained just a little bit of distance between the two of them.

"I think that you should do something else outside of your comfort zone," Arizona said decisively, a little smirk on her lips making it clear she already had something in mind.

"What… what are you thinking?" April asked, unable to help herself as she stared at the blonde's lips.

"Go on a date with me." She stated clearly.

"W–what?" The redhead stuttered out, her gaze managing to snap back up.

A little more laughter spilled from the blonde. "I'm serious. Go on a date with me. I mean, you've already made out with me, so if I got you to do that again, it really wouldn't be pushing you. So let's do something a little more fun. Something that can still include making out, if you want."

"Is this some kind of prank or something?" She questioned, brows forming a deep furrow.

"Do you think I would do that?" Arizona questioned.

"No, no, I don't," she shook her head. "I mean, I think that Amelia or the others might try to put you up to something like that, but I don't think you would do something like that just out of your own devices." She answered.

"So then do it. Just go on a date with me." The blonde stated simply.

"Okay. If you're serious." She answered.

Arizona grinned for a moment longer and leaned forward, placing a quick and chaste kiss against the redhead's lips once she had gotten the answer that she desired out of the other woman. She had been thinking about it since they had first kissed in the closet like that, and it was more than satisfying to have it coming to fruition without too much effort having to be put into it.

"I am very, very serious. Promise."


End file.
